As Appalachian coal production continues its drastic decline, West Virginia’s coal-producing counties are not only losing people as lifelong residents are forced to flee their homes in order to find work, but in many cases, they’re also relinquishing millions of dollars from their budgets.

As Appalachian coal production continues its drastic decline, West Virginia’s coal-producing counties are not only losing people as lifelong residents are forced to flee their homes in order to find work, but in many cases, they’re also relinquishing millions of dollars from their budgets.

Arch Coal has acquired property adjacent to its Tygart Valley reserves and its Leer mine for $16 million as part of the Patriot Coal bankruptcy settlement agreement.

In a statement released early today, Arch said the reserves are of comparable quality to Leer's
high-volatile "A" metallurgical coal reserves. The addition of the reserves will enable Arch to recover up to an incremental 8 million
tons of metallurgical coal at the Leer mine, thereby extending the
estimated mine life of Leer by nearly three years.

"The Guffy
acquisition represents a valuable, synergistic, bolt-on opportunity for
Arch that extends the reserves and mine life at Leer, one of our
premier, metallurgical coal operations in Appalachia," said John W. Eaves, Arch Coal's president and chief executive officer, in the news release.